Radicalism may have triggered mall attacks

by Dennis Dalman

editor@thenewsleaders.com

The St. Cloud man who stabbed 10 people at Crossroads Center shopping mall on Sept. 17 in St. Cloud may have been “radicalized” via some form of extremist Islamic ideology, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

That information was revealed during a press conference Oct. 6 with FBI agent Rick Thornton, St. Cloud police and Stearns County Attorney Janelle Kendall. Video sequences of the mall attacks, taken from security cameras, were also released, including the segment where Dahir Adan is shot and killed.

Thornton said there was a noticeable deterioration in the personality of Adan, 20, a Somali-American, in the weeks preceding the attack, which investigators said was premeditated.

Shortly after 9 p.m. Sept. 17, Adan went on a stabbing rampage at Crossroads, running after people and stabbing them. Fortunately, none of the 10 people stabbed suffered any life-threatening injuries. Adan was killed inside the Macy’s store by an off-duty police officer who happened to be at the mall – Jason Falconer of Avon.

Thornton said the investigation into Adan’s motivations for the attack are still under investigation, with an effort to get Adan’s cell phone unlocked, so law enforcement can find out who his contacts were and if he had communications with terrorist groups.

Family and friends of Adan told investigators the one-time high-honors student underwent serious changes in the last months of his life. A graduate of Apollo High School with a high grade-point average, Adan enrolled at St. Cloud State University and was doing well until his grades suddenly began to plummet, and he dropped out of school. He had been a security guard for a private agency and was wearing his security uniform during the knife attacks.

Friends said Adan had never shown much particular interest in religion, but some months ago he began to express an interest in the Islamic religion. Always an avid sportsman, especially basketball, he quit playing sports, withdrew from social activities with friends and lost a lot of weight. His friends also told Thornton he would become agitated about certain things that never seemed to bother him in the past.

Terror erupts

The officials at the press conference pieced together an overview of what happened on the evening of Sept. 17.

Adan called his boss and said he wouldn’t be coming to work that evening. He left his home a mile-and-a-half from the mall after grabbing two steak knives. At a convenience store on the way to Crossroads Center, Adan briefly spoke with employees there whom he knew. The clerk said to Adan, “See you later.” And Adan replied: “You won’t be seeing me again.”

Then, on the way to the mall, Adan’s vehicle collided with a bicyclist who suffered minor injuries. Adan did not stop but kept driving toward the mall.

He entered the mall at a southeast door. Then he began to attack people at random with a knife and his fists. At least one man was asked by Adan if he was a Muslim before being slashed with a knife. During one attack, one of the kitchen knives was bent, and Adan grabbed the other one to continue his random mayhem. People were running and screaming as the loud pandemonium filled parts of the mall.

Adan ran into Macy’s, yelling, and the off-duty police officer from Avon ran after him. The officer announced who he was and demanded Adan drop onto the floor. He did, but then he got up and lunged toward the officer who fired at Adan. Adan fell and again got up and lunged. Finally, several of the officer’s shots struck Adan to fatal effect, although he crawled across the floor, leaving a trail of blood and almost succeeding in getting back up before he slumped down, dead.

Officer Jason Falconer has been officially cleared of any wrong-doing in his shooting of the assailant.